An Alton man who was being held in the St. Tammany Parish Jail on accusations he was involved in a Christmas Day gunfight with St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's deputies died Wednesday at a local hospital, Sheriff's Office Capt. George Bonnett said. Antoine Tobias, 40, was being held on a $200,000 bond, charged with one count of aggravated burglary and two counts of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer.

Tobias told the jail's medical staff Tuesday night that he was having breathing problems, Bonnett said. He fell on the floor, and the staff put him back on his bunk so the on-duty nurse could assess him, Bonnett said.

Other nurses monitored him while that nurse was on the phone with the on-call physician, he said.

Antoine TobiasSt. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office

The jail called Acadian Ambulance just after midnight, he said. Tobias stopped breathing and was unresponsive before the ambulance arrived, Bonnett said.

The nurse and jail staff administered CPR. Acadian EMTs arrived at 12:20 p.m., Bonnett said. Tobias appeared to be revived and was taken quickly to St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington, he said.

The hospital told the Sheriff's Office at 1:20 a.m. that Tobias had died, Bonnett said.

The Sheriff's Office and the St. Tammany Parish Coroner's Office are investigating Tobias' death, Bonnett said. An autopsy has been scheduled.

Tobias was booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail on Jan. 2 -
one week after he allegedly fired multiple rounds at sheriff's deputies who were attempting to help Tobias' family members escape from the bathroom of a home.

They had locked themselves inside to escape from an armed Tobias, who broke into his mother-in-law's house and was "behaving in an extremely violent manner."

Deputies fired back at Tobias as he fired at them, a Sheriff's Department report from the time said. A K-9 dog also bit him.

Tobias was treated for non life-threatening injuries at Interim LSU Public Hospital before being booked into jail.